This time, it was Neal who was pacing. He had been circling the same ten foot radius of Peter's office for nearly an hour. His partner was sitting at his desk, staring up at him, clearly at a loss for words, and Kathryn was waiting for them in the conference room. Neal couldn't bring himself to face her. This was his fault. Kristen had gotten into this trouble because he had suddenly landed back in their lives. There was no way around that fact. The consultant ran a hand through his hair and let out an audible sigh.

"We'll find her, Neal," Peter insisted for what must have been the hundredth time that night. Neal's eyes shot up to meet the agent's.

"Can you promise me that?" he questioned with a hint of anger in his voice. Peter's eyes fluttered away in embarrassment. He knew the rules, and so did Neal. They were never supposed to promise anything. Not in their line of work. Things were never guaranteed.

Peter drew a sharp intake of breath and regained his composure. "Yes," he assured the younger man. "I promise. We are going to find her."

Neal stopped his pacing. He gave Peter a sharp nod, and then the two of them made their way into the conference room. Neal passed his mother quickly and took his usual seat at Peter's side. He didn't even give the woman so much as a sideways glance. She didn't want to look at him. He knew that.

"Alright, people," Peter announced to the whole room. All heads turned to face him. "Kristen disappeared a little over an hour ago. Does anybody have a lead on our van?" He looked around the room hopefully. Not to his surprise, Jones stepped forward with information immediately.

"We located it parked in front of Port Authority Bus Station," Jones explained, throwing a picture of the empty vehicle across the table. "It's completely clean."

"You think they're taking her somewhere out of the city?" Kathryn asked worriedly.

"No," Neal confirmed confidently. He kept his eyes focused on Peter. "That's not Keller's style. He wouldn't want to get on a bus or train. Then he's trapped. Besides, it'd be too difficult to get Kristen on unnoticed."

"So this was a misdirect?" Peter questioned. Again, Neal shook his head in disagreement.

"I don't think so," he said slowly. "He knows I wouldn't fall for anything like this…" he began to trail off just as his phone ring. He grabbed it immediately and turned it on speaker phone. "Keller," he greeted coldly.

"Caffrey," the man's voice answered him. "Agent Burke," he continued, knowing all too well that the other man was listening in. "How's that manhunt of yours going?"

"Just tell us where she is," Neal ordered impatiently.

"Like I said, Neal," Keller sighed. "You get the girl back when I get what I want."

"Jesus, Keller," Neal shot back angrily. "Then tell me what you want."

There was silence on the other line, and, for a moment, Neal thought the other man had hung up again.

"You've stolen a lot of things, Neal," Keller continued suddenly. "I want the one thing you ever stole from me back."

Neal racked his brain, trying to think of something, anything, he had every stollen from the man, but he came up empty. "I never stole anything from you, Keller…" he started, but then his eyes wandered down to the picture lying on the table. The sign for Port Authority could be seen just above it's tinted windows. Realization hit as he pictured Kate running past the sign towards a much younger version of himself. Keller was standing several feet away, watching the reunion through narrowed eyes. Neal closed his eyes and rubbed his face in desperation. "Kate," he breathed.

"Precisely," Keller confirmed in amusement. All eyes turned to Neal questioningly. He lowered his eyes and took a step forward.

"Kate's dead, Keller," he said tentatively. "You know that."

"I do," the other man said coldly. "So, I want the next best thing."

The other line fell silent again. Neal waited patiently this time.

"Kate used to wear a necklace. I'm sure you remember it," Keller continued.

"Of course," Neal confirmed. Anyone who knew Kate knew that necklace. "She never took it off."

"And do you know where she got it?" he questioned.

Neal hesitated for a minute. "It was said to be owned by Marie Antoinette. Stollen in 1996 from a French museum…." he started but then trailed off. He had never asked where she had gotten it. The thought was far from comforting.

"Yes," Keller agreed. "But did she manage to get her hands on it?" he asked. Neal didn't answer. He could feel the curious eyes bearing into him around the room, but he remained focus on his phone. "No? You don't know?" Keller laughed.

"No. I don't," Neal admitted in a low growl.

"It was a gift," Keller continued casually. "From me."

All of Neal's worry for Kristen seemed to transform into pure anger in a single instant. He gritted his teeth and forced his hands into fists. Everyone in the room stiffened nervously. Only Peter recognized the bit of hurt that flashed across his partner's eyes. "How generous of you," Neal hissed.

"I thought so," Keller agreed. "But, here's the thing, that necklace, I stole it from a museum nearly fifteen years ago. It's worth over a million dollars and, well, since Kate doesn't need it anymore…"

"You want it back?" Neal questioned in disbelief. Only Keller would sink so low.

"Well, you and your partner, Burke, have left me with limited resources," the other man explained calmly. "I'm going to need that necklace."

"It's not that simple…" Neal protested, but he knew it was a battle he couldn't win.

"You have twenty-four hours, Caffrey," Keller spoke over him. "Bring the necklace to me before then, and you'll get the girl back."

"Fine," Neal agreed coldly. "Just don't hurt her."

Keller laughed cruelly. "I can't make any promises." And again, the line went dead.

A wave of fury washed over Neal. He took his phone from the table, weighed it in his hand for a moment, and then sent it crashing to the far wall with a great deal of force. He stormed out of the conference room without a word. Kathryn watched him leave, but she didn't dare go after him. This was Neal Caffrey's problem, not Nick Halden's. It wasn't her place, and, even if it were, she wouldn't even know where to begin.

Peter, on the other hand, got to his feet at once and followed his partner out of the room. He found him just a few feet away, leaning over the railing of the top floor and looking down onto the bullpen. His head was bowed, and Peter could see that he was shaking. Although, he wasn't sure if it was out of anger or fear. He went to the man's side at once and placed a hand on his shoulder. Neal didn't even raise his head.

"I'm gonna kill him," he said in a shockingly harsh voice. Peter suppressed his surprise and tighten his grip on Neal's shoulder. It was a rarity to see the other man showing his emotions at all. To see him in a state of such wild fury was frightening.

"Neal…" he started calmly, sighing and leaning over the balcony as well. He dropped his hand slowly. "Right now, your mom is a complete mess and Kristen is in serious danger. Trying to get even with Keller isn't going to help either of them." He hesitated for a moment as they both thought about his words. "You can get that necklace?" he questioned, knowing the answer already.

"Yes," Neal answered quickly. "I can. But it'll be…" he trailed off. What was the word exactly? It wouldn't be hard. No. Once he got there, getting the necklace would be a piece of cake. It certainly wasn't going to be easy, though. No. This wasn't going to be an enjoyable trip. "Unpleasant," he decided on.

"Look," Peter sighed. "You know how the bureau'll want to handle this." Suddenly, Neal's eyes filled with fear. He had run from and worked with the bureau long enough to know that they didn't bargain. They wouldn't give Keller some expensive piece of stolen merchandise in exchange for the life of an average teenage girl. What kind of message would that send to the public? They would try to track him down and hopefully arrest him before the girl was hurt. If not, then at least they could add murder to their list of charges. There was no bargaining with kidnappers. Not within the walls of the FBI.

"Peter," Neal started. His eyes met his partner's in a desperate plea. "He'll kill her. You know he will."

"I know," Peter agreed with a nod. "That's why we're going to handle this outside of the bureau." Neal look at him with surprised appreciation. "I'm assuming you'll have to get out of your radius for this."

"Yeah," Neal confirmed. He half expected Peter to pull out the key to the anklet at that very moment and let him go.

"I'll go with you. As soon as we're done here with the official report." Peter's eyes fell on the conference room, now busily in motion. His eyes met Neal's forcefully. "I know you don't have the most faith in the bureau, but…"

"I trust you," Neal finished for him. Peter was right. When it came to something as important as his sister, he had no faith in the bureau's ability to find her. But for him, Peter had always been an entirely separate entity. If there was anyone he trusted with this, it was him.

They spent the next couple of hours in the conference room with the majority of the white collar division staff as well as the missing persons team. Agent Rice had been assigned to head the investigation, since Peter and Neal were clearly too emotionally involved. It was just another reason why Neal was so grateful for Peter's promise to work off the record. Rice was good enough at her job, but they both knew from experience that, in the end, her number one priority was herself. Her sympathetic smile and determined words may have shown genuine concern for Kristen's well being, but all she truly cared about was adding another successful case to her resume. And, at least for Neal, that was enough of a guarantee that he would ever see his sister alive again.

When they were finally excused from their meeting, Neal and Peter immediately broke off from the conversing group and headed for the agent's office. Kathryn was standing at the door of the conference room, and, for a moment, Neal was going to pass right by her. He hadn't been able to speak to his mother since they had reached the office.

"Neal," the woman's shaking voice stopped them both dead in their tracks. She reached for her son's hand and gave it a small squeeze. Neal broke at the single word. He could see how much pain it caused her to speak his unfamiliar name.

"Everything's okay," he assured her, eyeing Peter as he spoke. "We'll find her." Bother their eyes wandered to the group of impressive agents standing just a few feet away. Neither of them seemed convinced. Neal leaned in to her ear and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Peter and I will take care of this." Kathryn seemed to understand that loud and clear. She nodded, and the two of them disappeared into Peter's office.

"Where is it?" Peter asked, turning to Neal the instant the door closed behind him. The consultant hesitated for a moment. "Come on, Neal. You're not holding out on me. Not now."

Neal nodded. "Kate was wearing it when she…" he swallowed hard and dropped his gaze. Peter remained patient. "They didn't recover a lot, but the necklace managed to survive." They both shuddered at the memory of the aftermath of Kate's death. Peter hadn't let Neal anywhere near the plane, even after the danger of smoke and debris had long passed. But they had both been there to watch as the scene was inspected and cleared out. Neal was sitting on the back of police car, answering questions. His eyes had been fixed on the plane since the explosion. "They gave everything they could salvage to Kate's only living relative." He sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Her mother. Rebecca Moreau."

"Is that a bad thing?" Peter questioned hesitantly. He couldn't imagine any woman alive being able to resist his partner's charm.

Neal frowned. "Peter, you only knew Kate when she was dating me," he started, shaking his head. "Before we met, she had a bright future. She had a strong education, wealthy parents, and she was working for one of the most powerful men in Manhattan. Unlike mine, her job with Adler was legitimate. After he left, she would have had no trouble finding a new job, but once Mozzie and I pulled her into our lifestyle, she didn't really have a chance. She started fighting with her mom constantly, always about me. And then, eventually, they just stopped talking altogether. In the end, she realized she had to choose between me and her mother, and she chose me. When I went to prison, Rebecca expected Kate to come running back home…"

"But she didn't," Peter finished, knowing the story entirely too well.

"No," Neal shook his head. "And then she disappeared. While Mozzie and I were doing our own investigating up here, Rebecca had an entire team of PI's out looking for her. We found her first though, and…" he trailed off. "Well, you know what happened." Peter simply nodded.

"Rebecca blames you for her daughter's death?" he questioned knowingly.

"She knows I didn't blow up that plane, but, to her, I might as well have." Peter could see the guilt returning to his consultant's eyes. It had been nearly a year since Kate's death, and he was finally getting over it. It killed him to see the emotions from the day of the girl's death come rushing back. "She hates me, Peter. She won't even look me in the eye, let alone help me with this."

"Well, you're going to have to try," Peter said sternly. Did he really need to remind Neal what was on the line here? "This isn't about Kate, Neal. It's about Kristen."

Slowly, Neal nodded his understanding. "You're right," he admitted.

"Let's get going. The sooner we get that necklace, the sooner we get Kristen home safe."

"And then what?"

Peter was already at the door, but Neal hesitated at his spot by the window.

"Peter, even if we get Kristen back safely, Keller will still be out there…"

"We'll worry about that later, okay?" Peter assured. Everything he had learned from being a federal agent warned him against this, but he knew very well that everyone still hunched over case files in the other room had only one person on their mind: Keller. They wanted to catch him. Kristen was just their easiest way to get to him.

"Yeah," Neal agreed. Finally, he followed Peter out of the office, but a new fear had risen in his chest. It had been a year since he had last seen Rebecca Moreau. One year since she had thrown him out of her daughter's funeral.

As always, feedback is always appreciated and thank you all so much for reading!